A Break in the Weather
by Story Please
Summary: Severus Snape is having a terrible day. Scratch that, he's having a terrible LIFE. So when Slughorn asks for him to stay after class, he doesn't have much in the way of high hopes. However, one little conversation has a way of changing even the dreariest day into one with sunshine and blue skies. Now, if only those awful Marauders don't screw everything up...


A Break in the Weather

Severus Snape was having a terrible day.

Black and Potter had stolen his textbooks and charmed them to fly like birds, and he'd spent most of his morning trying to get them down from the rafters of the Owlry, so he'd been late to Potions class.

Remus was sitting next to Lily already.

'Probably put up to it by his arsehole friends,' Severus thought darkly as he took a seat near the back; the one with the missing leg that forced him to put all his weight on the right side to keep it from tipping over.

Of course, it didn't help that he'd been drifting from his childhood friend for years. Their disagreements over his House were getting worse and worse, but it wasn't as though he could go back in time and change it. He often wondered what sort of brainwashing they were doing up in Gryffindor Tower, though to some extent, he accepted that his own House had some of that going on as well. Anywhere anyone created hierarchies, it seemed that there was always someone trying to leverage the story of the world to suit themselves.

"Mr. Snape, I should like a word with you." Professor Slughorn's walrus moustache twitched slightly to the right, and Severus decided that it could mean nothing good at all.

After all, it never was.

He should have been relieved that it was near the end of the school year.

But all he felt now was a weary resignation that he was simply trading one sort of hell for another.

He pointedly avoided looking at the other students as they shuffled out of the Potions classroom.

Especially Lily.

He couldn't bear the look of sympathy on her face. She obviously thought that he was pathetic. She saw him as the poor, neglected boy who had nothing- a real-life Dickensian Oliver Twist for her to drool over like some kind of puppy from the pound.

He hated it. He wanted to show her that he was powerful of his own accord, on his own merits.

But the thing he hated even more was the fact that her sympathy wasn't misplaced. He had nothing. He was nothing. He was bullied by his fellow classmates unless he hexed them unconscious. He had to ward his bed to keep himself from being attacked in his sleep. At least he only ever had to worry about that at home when his mother had taken her pills and was too catatonic to Stupefy his father when he was too far in his cups again.

He would show her. He'd show them all! And once he did, they would never laugh at him again.

'I just have to get through my last exam...' he thought to himself, wincing as the rotund shadow of his Potions professor and Head of House darkened his desk.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Snape." Slughorn was looking down over his round belly, which gave him an almost Santa Claus-like appearance, but for the cloak of green and silver that he wore.

"Yes, Sir?" Severus replied, his voice as flat and emotionless as his eyes. He knew that a neutral response was the best. Perhaps Slughorn would overlook whatever infraction he'd incurred if he simply made himself as meek and small as possible. After all, Slughorn had a reputation for ignoring those who didn't come from power or status.

"It's about your O.W.L.S. I know that you still have one more to finish, but I figured that we could have a little talk, Slytherin to Slytherin, yes?" Slughorn's face was red and sweaty, and Severus detected a rather covetous tone to the man's voice.

"I suppose..." Severus could feel his heart leap with hope, though his expression did not betray the excitement in his belly.

"I know that I'm not supposed to disclose the results of exams before the end of summer holidays, but I figured that I can be informal with you, Mr. Snape...may I call you Severus?"

His dark eyes went wide at the usage of his first name. Severus hadn't even realized that Slughorn knew him as anything other than 'Mr. Snape.' This was unexpected.

"Please, Sir, I shall be discreet," Severus replied, hating the sound of excitement bubbling in the back of his throat as he spoke. He sounded pathetic.

"Very well, Severus. I want you to know that I've had my eye on you for the past couple of years, and though you've obviously had a lot to overcome, I can tell that you've worked hard and like all good Slytherin students, have more than your fair share of ambition. Which is why I'm about to tell you something that only a select few students are privy to."

Severus was nearly drooling at this admission.

"I've seen you work for many years, now, and it is no secret that you are the go-to-guy for Potions homework help. I even looked the other way when you started selling your blemish removal remedy for a small fee. After all, a Slytherin must play to his strengths, isn't that right my boy? However, I also sat in on your Potions exam and have spoken with the Ministry officials involved with your other O.W.L.S, and, though the official results will not be released for a couple of months, I can tell you now that you are currently testing at the top of the class- full marks on each of your subjects!"

Severus could feel his face going scarlet at the unexpected praise as the blood rushed through his ears, nearly drowning out the rest of what Slughorn was saying. The rotund professor was shaking with affable laughter, and it was only when Severus felt a large, ham-like hand slapping him on the back, did he finally hear what Slughorn was saying.

"-for an apprenticeship in Potions. How does that sound, my boy?" Slughorn beamed, looking at Severus with that appraising, covetous expression.

For a moment, Severus was literally speechless. He couldn't even summon a gasp of surprise. And then, a curious thing happened. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards, as though of their own accord, and held in place. He could feel the smile growing on his face-an odd and alien expression that felt strange yet appropriate, all things considered.

"I...I would be most appreciative of such an honor..." he said at last, speaking as slowly as he dared to stop his voice from breaking.

"That's the spirit!" Slughorn said, patting Severus on the back hard enough to jostle his head back and forth. "Now, there shall be quite a lot of extra work, but if we begin now, you should have your Mastery by the time you leave Hogwarts."

Severus closed his eyes, imagining a small potions shop in Diagon Alley where he could finally make his fortune, one that was all his own. Lucius Malfoy still kept in touch, so perhaps he could get a loan from him. Lucius would love to have a permanent discount on beauty potions and a cut of the profits for absolutely no work on his part even though he didn't need the money.

"Now, I can't make it formal until I draw up the paperwork with Dumbledore, but it's just a formality," Slughorn said with a hearty laugh. "So just be here tonight at eight o'clock and we will begin your first lesson."

"Thank you, Master," Severus said, standing and bowing low. "I shall endeavor to learn all you deign to teach me."

Slughorn preened under the usage of the formal title.

"Well! Now that's settled, I shall not keep you any longer! Good luck on your final exam!"

With a wave, Professor Slughorn waddled back to the front of the class and sat down with a heavy sigh at his desk.

As he walked towards the Great Hall with that smile on his lips, the sensation growing more familiar by the moment, Severus glanced out the window at the beautiful weather outside.

'Might as well go study by the lake,' he mused to himself. 'For once, I feel like I belong out in the sunlight instead of in the dark shadows of the library stacks.'

He couldn't wait to tell Lily about the apprenticeship. Surely she would finally see that he was capable of doing quite well for himself on his own merits.

'Maybe this will fix everything,' he thought fervently, clutching his books to his chest as he walked with an unfamiliar spring in his step. He even smiled at a group of first year students who were huddled by the entrance to the castle, not caring when they cringed away from him in fear.

No, he reasoned as he sat down under a tree and opened his textbook to study, with what he knew now, nothing could ruin this day.

It was a shame that he was terribly, horribly wrong.


End file.
